


Indigo Eleven

by misha_anon



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Accidental Stimulation, Alternate Universe - Tattoos, First Kiss, M/M, Public Sex, tattooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:31:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misha_anon/pseuds/misha_anon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen manages the tattoo shop his best friend Jared owns.  He also has a serious unrequited crush on Jared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was someone else's idea that I grabbed and ran with (with permission, of course). It was originally going to be much longer, but sometimes stories laugh at your plans.
> 
> Also, the public sex isn't actually public sex, but I had no idea how else to tag for it. _Note to self: Don't write things you can't figure out tags for._

“Got a minute, Jen?”  Jensen looks up from the stack of paperwork on his desk at the sound of Jared’s voice coming from his office doorway.  Jared’s grinning, lip caught between his teeth, excitement dancing in his ever-changing eyes.

Jensen returns the infectious smile and nods, pushing the papers away.  “Sure, what’s up?”

“I want you to meet Lilly.”  Jared pulls a petite, dark-haired woman into the doorway and wraps his arms around her.  “I met her night before last at The Jive. She’s _amazing_.”

Try as he might, Jensen can’t keep his smile from slipping a little.  Lilly is the third new girl this month.  It isn’t that Jensen is _jealous_ , exactly.  It’s just that he’s..  yeah..  jealous.  He sizes her up quickly, from her sweet smile to her amply tattooed forearms and the part of him that doesn’t want to scream and cry and throw a tantrum to end all tantrums hopes that maybe she’ll be the one who sticks around.

“Nice to meetcha,” Jensen tells her politely, smiling.  She beams at him and leans back against Jared, suddenly seeming ridiculously small in comparison.  Jensen wonders how they..  no.  No he doesn’t.  He doesn’t wonder at all.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Jen!”  Her voice is sweet and small to match her stature and Jensen tries not to cringe at the use of Jared’s nickname for him, but he’s not quite successful.  “Jared has told me _so_ much about you!”

“Don’t believe a word of it.”  Jensen replies, deadpan.  Jared laughs and squeezes Lilly tighter and she grabs the ends of his thick scarf and pulls him down for a kiss.  Jensen turns his attention back to the paperwork on his desk, knowing it’s going to be a long day.

When Jared and Lilly invite him to lunch, Jensen politely declines.  As soon as they’re gone he sneaks into Jared’s office and leaves a fresh bottle of vitamins on his desk.  If Jensen’s calculations are correct - and they always are - Jared finished his last bottle this morning.  It isn’t as though it’s a secret that he provides Jared’s daily vitamins but Jensen still likes to do it on the sly.  There’s something about doing something nice without being caught that makes it feel even better.

***

Three weeks later, the metallic buzz of the tattoo gun soothes something deep inside Jensen as he lies sprawled, face down on the chair.  Jared’s big hand is splayed across Jensen’s shoulder blade, holding him steady as he inks their latest design over his spine.  The buzzing stops and Jared takes his time wiping away the mess.

“I just don’t get it, Jen. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.  I mean, I _really_ thought she was different.”   

“You always think they’re different, Jay, and they never are.”  It’s moments like this that Jensen really wishes he had the courage to tell Jared about the stupid crush he’s been harboring for the last two years.  It’s not a crush, though.  It’s something bigger and more special and in need of being guarded; something Jensen felt when Jared shook his hand to seal the deal on this job.  Today, again, he doesn’t have the courage.   “You’ll find the right one someday.”

 Jensen decided a long time ago that since a friend was all he’d ever get the chance to be, he’d be the best friend Jared could ever ask for.  He’s lost count of the number of heartbreaks he’s nursed Jared through now and the number of times he’s dragged his ass out of bed at two a.m. to pick Jared up from some random chick’s house in the middle of a shitstorm of drama, but it doesn’t matter.  He _is_ the best goddamned friend Jared’s ever had.

“Guess so.”  Jared’s gruff reply comes half a second before the sting of needles jolts Jensen’s body again. Jensen sucks a sharp breath, focusing on the warmth of Jared’s hand in the cold room.  He closes his eyes as the gun sweeps carefully over the lines of the phoenix being inked, enjoying the sound and the prickly feeling of pain that borders on pleasure.  Jared hums softly while he works, a sound Jensen can barely hear, but knows by heart.  When the gun goes silent again, Jared pauses even longer, tugging skin this way and that while he cleans Jensen up.  Jensen shivers and bites his lip.

“Is it too cold in here?”  Jared’s voice sounds far away.  He rests the back of latex gloved fingers on the side of Jensen’s neck as though checking his temperature.

“Nah, it’s fine.  Just an air current, I guess.”  Jensen’s voice is raw.  He shuts up and takes a deep breath, hoping Jared won’t notice.  His dick is hard, shoved painfully against the long chair under him and he’s trying not to squirm, God knows he is; but the feeling of Jared’s hands and the sound of his voice _always_ do this to Jensen.  If he were being honest, he’d say that he likes the process of Jared tattooing him a helluva lot more than he likes the aftermath.

“We should find some twins and double date.”  Jared sounds amused by the prospect.  “Or maybe I should take a break from dating and just focus on work.  Girls are too much fucking work, you know?”

Jensen laughs, half looking back over his shoulder at Jared.  “You won’t last two weeks, Jay.  You’ll get horny and next thing you know, you’ll have another girlfriend.”

Jared huffs indignantly, but doesn’t argue.  Jensen takes comfort in the fact that his soft groan can’t be heard over the tattoo gun when Jared’s hand comes to rest on the back of his neck, gently holding him in place while the details of the top of the phoenix’s head are finished.


	2. Chapter 2

When the bell on the shop’s door rings, Jensen looks up from the reception counter and has to shift quickly to keep from falling out of his chair.  He wonders if Jared _intentionally_ makes his ponytail so messy or if he really never looks in the mirror.  Either way, Jensen thinks it’s a good look.  Jared perpetually looks like he just got out of bed, or is ready to go back to bed; and Jensen can’t bring himself to argue with either notion.

“Hey, Jay, you’re here early.  It’s not even noon,” Jensen greets with a teasing smile.  Jared is carefully balancing three Starbucks cups, his tongue peeking out between his teeth in concentration.  He puts one down in front of Jensen on the counter, then reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear.

“I didn’t go to bed last night.”  He gives a big smile, like sunshine after a storm.  Upon closer inspection, Jensen realizes that he’s still wearing last night’s clothes.  He doesn’t know what he expected when he left Jared alone at the bar.  Jensen takes a sip of the proffered coffee to try to hide his disappointment.

“What’s her name?”

“Ivy.”  Jared’s grin widens.  “She’s cool.  I think you’ll like her, Jen.”

“Are girls with plant names a fetish or something?  Iris, Lilly, Rose, Daisy, now Ivy?”  Jensen grins back and toys with his coffee cup.  Jared laughs, big and booming and with his whole body, then shrugs his shoulders.

“Maybe if I _deflower_ the entire plant kingdom..”  He winks, a gesture that never fails to send Jensen’s heart fluttering somewhere around his adam’s apple, then takes off for the back of the shop with the remaining two cups of coffee, still laughing at his own joke after he’s out of sight.

Jensen sighs and stares at the big _Indigo Eleven_ mural on the back wall of the waiting room, tracing the lines of each letter and the tattooed swallow carefully with his eyes until the nauseating surge of jealousy over a girl he’s never even met has passed.  He reminds himself that he chose this path and that he does it for Jared.  He does it so that after lunch when Jared brings Ivy to meet him, he’ll able to smile and greet her politely and pretend not to hate the familiar way she tucks Jared’s hair behind his ear.  

He does it because he’s the _best_ goddamned friend Jared could ever ask for.

When Jensen opens the shop the next morning and finds a chocolate cupcake and a colorful abstract drawing of a dove on his desk, it’s all worth it.  There’s a scrawled note attached to the drawing in Jared’s handwriting that reads only, “Stomach?  Chest?”  Jared leaves him cupcakes regularly, like some sort of illicit trade-off for the vitamins and healthy eating advice.  Occasionally the cupcakes come with these drawings to propose the idea for a new tattoo for Jensen.

It’s funny, really.  Jensen never pictured himself with tattoos at all.  If he ever _had_ pictured himself with tattoos, they wouldn’t have been birds.  Especially not brightly colored, abstract birds.  It’s still a mystery to Jensen how every few months he adds to his collection of inked feathers even though he tells himself that every tattoo is the last one.  Damn Jared for being such a great artist.

***

It’s taken Jensen two months to get up the courage to tell Jared he’s ready to have the dove tattooed on his chest.  It’s bad enough to have a raging hard on like a fucking teenager whenever Jared gets too close or looks at him just right, it’s a completely different level of awkward when he’s half naked and the sole focus of Jared’s attention and trying to hide how turned on he is.  He liked the idea of the soft blue-and-purple dove on his stomach until he realized there would be absolutely no way Jared wouldn’t notice his erection.

As is customary, Jensen gets ready before Jared comes to find him.  He learned after his first tat that if he didn’t take a few minutes to collect himself, it was so much worse to try to get through the feel of Jared’s hands and the sound of his voice and the burning sting of the gun.  Jensen takes off his shirt to lie back on the chair, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.  His nipples harden instantly in the chill of the room and he shivers.

“I swear we’re gonna have to start turning on the heat to do these things, Jen.”  Jared’s teasing voice washes over Jensen like a tidal wave, leaving him breathless.  He shifts on the tacky vinyl chair, drops his t-shirt over his already half-hard dick, and forces out a chuckle.

“It’s fine,” Jensen mumbles, opening his eyes.  He doesn’t trust his voice to say any more.

Jared takes his sweet fucking time preparing Jensen’s chest for the tattoo, rambling about the discussion he had with Ivy about moving in together and the concert he’s taking her to tomorrow.  Jensen isn’t listening. He’s too busy trying not to crawl out of his skin with the feel of latex tugging across his goosebumped flesh and the swipe of alcohol wipes over his nipple.  By the time they get to the buzz of checking the gun, he can feel precome smeared inside his underwear and he’s _almost_ ready to call the whole thing off.

“I think she may be the one, man.”  Jared’s soft admission is like ice water dumped right in the middle of Jensen.  His breath whooshes out, leaving his lungs burning for air and his mind grasping for a coherent thought.  He doesn’t have time to react; Jared puts needles to skin almost before the last word is out and Jensen’s head is lit up with the the first rush of pain.  Tears sting his eyes momentarily until he finally gets a breath and starts to acclimate to the hot-match-head drag of needles.

Jensen grips hard at the arm of the chair and grits his teeth.  Gloved fingers are wrapped lightly around the curve of his ribs and he can only hope Jared will interpret the erratic thump of his heart to the rush of endorphins.  Jared’s words are almost forgotten as the jarring buzz of the gun sets Jensen’s every nerve on end.  Each shallow breath seems to defy the laws of physics and grind the head of his cock against the inside of his underwear.  With each maddening tug of slick fabric over sensitive skin, he’s a little more sure he’s not going to survive the session.

Jensen squeezes his eyes tight and tries to control his breathing so as not to fuck up Jared’s work, but when the pain starts to slide into pleasure, he is screwed.  So screwed.  His breath catches in his throat and his cock twitches, pulsing hot come under the constriction of his jeans and the weight of his t-shirt.  Jensen strangles down an undignified squeak and bites his tongue so hard the metallic hint of blood tightens his jaw.  

He fights to stay still under the waves of pleasure flowing just under his skin, his cock hypersensitive to every movement.  When Jared lifts the needles away, Jensen draws a ragged breath and swallows down a moan, though he can’t completely suppress the head-to-toe shudder.  He opens his eyes to see Jared staring at him in surprise.

“It’s been too long,” Jensen growls through clenched teeth, “since the last time.  I’d somehow forgotten how much it fucking hurts.”

“Pussy.”  Jared laughs and goes back to work, leaving Jensen squirming in his own come soaked underwear.  While it’s embarrassing to jizz in his jeans like a kid, there’s a certain freedom to be able to relax through most of the rest of the tattoo and focus on the pain of the needles and swipes of wet paper towel.  

Nothing more is said about the state of Jared’s relationship and Jensen pretends he never heard anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that the use of "pussy" as an insult is problematic, but I feel it's in character.


	3. Chapter 3

Jensen has slowly come around to liking Ivy, mostly because she helps in the battle to get Jared to drink a little less coffee and eat a few more salads.  He just can’t help himself after a while.  She makes Jared happy and she’s smart and sweet and funny and really, Jensen couldn’t ask for anything more for his best friend.  At least that’s what he tells himself when the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and twists his gut like he’s going to puke all over her smiling pixie face.

Sometimes it’s hard being the best goddamned friend someone ever had.  Sometimes he hangs out with Jared and Ivy, but usually he goes home to his empty apartment.  He’s tried dating both men and women.  He’s tried casual sex.  He’s tried making a wider circle of friends.  His heart just isn’t in any of it.  Since he met Jared, no one else compares.  He pushes a stack of papers across his desk and leans back in his chair.

It’s been three years since Jared shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hey, man, welcome home.”  Jensen thought it was an odd thing to say at the time, but it was true.  He’d come to Indigo Eleven in search of a job after being fired from his last one and he’d been ready to beg to get hired on as manager here.  There was something about Jared that clicked with him, though, and obviously the feeling was mutual.  

After their first day’s work together, they went out and got plastered and walked down the downtown sidewalk singing mangled country love songs together and giggling like dumbasses.  In Jensen’s estimation, there’s no better way to start a friendship.  Sure, he’d once had hopes of it being more than friendship, but Jared’s almost definitely straight and that shit wasn’t going anywhere.

Jensen sighs and rubs his eyes, then looks at the clock on his office wall.  It’s nearly four o’clock and he hasn’t heard anything from Jared, even though he’s been trying to text and call all afternoon.  He knows Jared’s been busy with Ivy, but it’s not like him to ignore Jensen.  He pulls out his phone to call for the seventh time, feeling like a stalker when he sees movement in his office doorway.

He looks up to see Jared watching him.  Jared’s hair is a rat’s nest of tangles, no ponytail in sight.  His ever-present scarf is missing and he’s dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans.  Jensen’s stomach clenches nervously at the sight and he pushes to his feet.

“What’s wrong, Jay?”  He tries to keep the alarm out of his voice, but fails miserably.  He rounds the desk as Jared takes a step into his office and closes the door.  Jared flops down into the chair in front of Jensen’s desk, all long legs and slumped shoulders and bloodshot eyes.

“Jared?”

Jared looks up as though he just noticed Jensen was standing there staring at him.  Jensen’s stomach leaps into his throat and he has to shove his hands into his pockets to stop himself from reaching out to touch Jared’s face.

“She’s gone, Jen.”  Jared’s voice is raw, disbelieving.  “Ivy.  She..”

He shakes his head and looks up at Jensen pleadingly.  Jensen leans back against the edge of his desk and swallows hard.  His heart is thumping so hard against his breastbone he’s almost certain it’s going to explode.  He’s torn between being relieved Ivy left and wanting to strangle her for hurting Jared.

“What happened?”  Jensen asks softly, crossing his arms over his chest as Jared looks back down to stare at his own lap, where his hands are clasped so tightly his fingers are white.

“She said she doesn’t love me.  Said she never loved me.  I thought we -”  He looks up at Jensen again, eyes filled with unshed tears and Jensen’s heart breaks for him.  Jensen swallows again, reflexively, and waits for Jared to continue.  “She’s been fucking around on me this whole time.  And last night she told me that she wanted to be with someone else.  Said she was tired of me.  I’m too immature.”

Jensen’s fury rises like a bonfire, sudden and scorching.  He has to bite his tongue to keep from spewing all the nasty things he wants to say about Ivy.  How _dare_ she make Jared look like a puppy who’s been kicked one too many times?  How dare she lead him on for eight months and break his heart?  Jensen promises himself that if he gets his hands on her, he’ll..  well..  he doesn’t know.  He’ll figure that out when he gets his hands on her.

“I’m sorry, Jay,” he says.  And he means it.  He means it more than he’s ever meant anything in his life.  Jared nods slowly, staring at his hands again and Jensen reaches out to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder.  Jared’s head jerks up like he’d forgotten Jensen was there in the last second-and-a-half.

“Yeah.  Yeah, me, too.”  Jared’s voice breaks over the last word and he pulls himself back up out of the chair and leaves Jensen’s office.  All Jensen can do is sit on the edge of his desk in numb silence, nauseous and weirdly nervous and dry-mouthed; with too many emotions swirling around inside his head for him to tell them apart.

*****

Two weeks later, before his boss has time to find another girlfriend to balm the wound left by Ivy, Jensen finds himself rapping on Jared’s half-open office door.  Jared is standing in front of his desk holding the bottle of vitamins Jensen delivered just this morning.  He’s staring at the bottle as though it holds all the secrets of the universe and he doesn’t look up.  Now or never, Jensen decides.

“I’ll never break your heart, Jay.” Jensen’s stomach churns with bile and nerves and the instant the words are out of his mouth, he wants them back.  He shrinks against the doorframe, his nails digging into the soft wood as he wets his lips.  He feels faint and finds himself thankful that there’s something solid to hold on to. 

That wasn’t what he meant to lead off with, and Jesus could he _be_ any more ridiculous romantic comedy?   _Fuck_.  Jared’s going to laugh and make fun of him and this is going to end in disaster and tears and Jensen is going to have to move to Venezuela and join the Russian witness protection program and…

“What?”  Jared asks when he finally looks up.  Jensen’s heart nearly stops when he sees Jared’s tongue slip out to wet his own lips.

“I buy you vitamins,” Jensen croaks as though it might somehow resemble a valid argument.

Jared smiles, slow at first, then wider as he nods his head.  He looks back down at the bottle in his hand and turns it around, then looks back up.  His smile is gone.  He places the bottle carefully on his desk and Jensen is mentally preparing for the ridicule he’s sure is coming as Jared starts to move toward him.  For the first time since he’s known Jared, he can’t read the look on his face.

Jensen is on the verge of either throwing up or pissing himself with embarrassment when Jared stops half a foot away and stares down at him.  Jesus Christ, he’s tall.  It’s not as though Jensen didn’t know that, but somehow he seems even taller than usual and he’s still staring with this inscrutable look and yes, Jensen is definitely going to puke.  He stands up straighter on quivering legs and looks up at Jared.

Once their eyes lock, it’s like a gravitational pull and Jensen couldn’t look away if he wanted to.  His breath comes in harsh little gasps as his heart beats out a Morse code SOS against the inside of his ribs.  A strange warmth starts to curl in the pit of Jensen’s stomach when Jared’s eyes light with a familiar, sweet mirth.  Just like that, before the smile even hits Jared’s lips, Jensen knows everything will be okay.  He knows he’s _finally_ earned his reward for being the best goddamned friend Jared could ever ask for.

“You do,” Jared says softly after a moment, his voice full of wonder.  “You buy me vitamins.”

It’s a good thing he doesn’t say anything else because a chorus of angels chooses that moment to start singing glory in Jensen’s ears.  Jensen is vaguely aware that he’s grinning like an idiot, but he couldn’t care less.  Jared wets his lips again and leans down to press his them to Jensen’s.  Panic and joy twist in Jensen’s stomach as he reaches up to grab the ends of Jared’s scarf and pull him closer.

The second Jared pulls back, Jensen tugs harder on his scarf  and plants a wet kiss on him, tongue flicking teasingly against his lower lip until he gasps, giving Jensen an in.  Jared’s hands find Jensen’s face, huge palms rubbing against his cheeks as Jared presses the kiss deeper until they’re taking turns learning the curves of one another’s mouths, the press of one another’s body.

When Jensen finally pulls back, breathless and grinning again, Jared drags a thumb across his bottom lip.  Their faces are inches apart, hot breath mixing and Jared’s eyes are sparkling blue-green as he whispers, “ _Never_ stop buying me vitamins.”  Jensen doesn’t have time to tell him that he never plans to stop before he’s swept away in another head-swimmingly thorough kiss.


End file.
